Ramsey County: Deputy took his camera, and he wants charges dropped

Andrew Henderson and his camera -- with the parking lot of his Little Canada apartment building in the background. On Oct. 30, 2012, he filmed Ramsey County deputies arresting a man in the parking lot and had his camera confiscated. (Pioneer Press: John Doman)

The attorney for a Little Canada man whose camera was taken by Ramsey County deputies after he filmed them has filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying Andrew Henderson's civil rights were violated.

Henderson, 29, was charged with interfering with an ambulance crew and disorderly conduct.

A judge will consider the dismissal motion Wednesday, May 22.

"The state seeks to punish Andrew Henderson for peaceably filming paramedics and sheriff's deputies in the parking lot of his apartment building," wrote Kevin Riach, a Minneapolis lawyer who is volunteering his services to the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Henderson.

"It is well-established that the First Amendment protects an individual's right to film police and public officials carrying out their official duties," Riach wrote in a memorandum filed May 13 in Ramsey County District Court.

Kevin Beck, an attorney representing Little Canada, said he could not comment on pending cases.

The criminal charges against Henderson and the dispute over his camera stemmed from an incident that began about 11:50 p.m. Oct. 30.

Henderson was sitting on a bench outside his apartment building in the 200 block of East County Road B2 when he saw Ramsey County sheriff's deputies frisking a man who also lived in the building. The man's face was bloodied, Henderson said.

Advertisement

The injured man had told the deputies in his apartment that he had been drinking and was into his second liter of vodka; his face was bruised from a car accident, the criminal complaint against Henderson said.

When the deputies and paramedics brought the man outside, Henderson decided to record the incident on a small camera he carried around. He also turned on his cellphone's audio recorder. He was three to five feet from the activity, according to the complaint.

Paramedics began loading the man into an ambulance. The man "became uncomfortable when he observed Henderson videotaping" and asked paramedics to stop him, according to the complaint. One paramedic asked Henderson to shut off the camera; Henderson refused, the complaint said.

The paramedics "had to stop the medical assessment to ask Henderson to stop videotaping," the complaint alleged. "When Henderson refused to stop, (paramedics) had to leave the area of the ambulance to notify the deputies," the complaint said.

Deputy Jacqueline Muellner approached and asked Henderson for his name. He refused to give it to her and, when told again to stop the recording, he said he was within his rights.

Muellner responded, "If I end up on YouTube, I'm gonna be upset." Her words were recorded on Henderson's cellphone. He provided a copy of the recording to the Pioneer Press.

She took Henderson's camera. When he went to the sheriff's office in Arden Hills to get it back, the recording was gone. He suspects someone from the sheriff's office erased it. The sheriff's office said there was never anything there.

Henderson's attorney said in his court memorandum that Henderson's activity did not constitute interference with an ambulance crew (one type of obstructing legal process), as interpreted by the state Supreme Court.

That law "may be used only to punish physical interference with police or other officials," Riach wrote. Henderson didn't get in the way physically, he said. And because his actions did not include "fighting words," or words or conduct likely to cause an imminent breach of the peace, they were constitutional, the attorney wrote.